Chapter 56 – Konoha's Reprisal III

"Talk"

'Think'

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.

Naruto and Temari were travelling when they saw Akimichi Shitō was sitting on a log eating-

"You're eating potato chips?" asked Naruto.

Shitō saw them and grinned "Oh, hey guys, you want some?" he offered them his potato chips.

"What happened to your Hyōrōgan?" asked Temari while Naruto accepted the offer and now, began munching on the chips.

"Already ate one. Then that bas****-" Shitō pointed to a large man with dull-orange hair "-sucked my chakra. The pills can only be taken three times within 24-hours. We don't know whom we might meet. So I'm saving it for later" he shrugged "Just in case. Besides-" Shitō grinned "chips taste a lot nicer"

"Aaaarrrrggghhhh!" Kankurō grinned with satisfaction when the crying faded away. Once an enemy was trapped inside Kuroari, the chance to escape was almost zero percent, unless it was Gaara. Kankurō shivered at the thought of how long it took to repair Kuroari when he tested it on Gaara.

Kankurō began to wrap Kuroari and Karasu again when he noticed incoming chakras. Naruto, Shitō and Temari landed in front of him.

"You done?" asked Temari.

"You bet" answered Kankurō with a grin.

Konoha's group was resting when Kankurō, Naruto, Shitō and Temari landed on the ground.

"Any problem?" asked Jiraiya.

"Nope" Kankurō replied while Shitō and Naruto grinned. Seeing Noriko, Naruto gave her the ocarina and the flute.

"Thank you Naruto. I wonder what these ones can do" said Noriko.

"You can find out later" said Jiraiya "We are almost at the entrance. Be on the alert-" Jiraiya was interrupted by a rain of bones and arrows attacked them from opposite directions.

Gaara's sand shot up and protected them from the attacks. Bones emerged from the sand wall.

"Bones?" asked Shin.

"Noriko!" ordered Kakashi.

"On it" said Noriko with her byakugan activated "Two enemies in opposite directions. One with both arms forward and shot…bones?" Noriko tried and failed at hiding her curiosity "The other have…six arms?"

"I'll take the bones" said Gaara.

"I'll take the six arms then" said Noriko.

Gaara's sand shot towards his opponent while Noriko jumped to the direction of her opponent. The rest of them continued travelling until they arrived at the entrance of Orochimaru's base.

Jiraiya, Sandaime, Kakashi and Itachi entered the base while the rest of them guarded the entrance. After a while, they sensed incoming chakras and noticed that they were surrounded by grotesque human beings.

"Are they human?" asked Shitō.

"More likely results from being experimented on" answered Shizune as she eyed them.

"We have to guard the entrance" reminded Shin.

"I'll guard it" said Temari "My jutsu is suitable to keep the enemies at bay"

"I'm with her" said Shizune "Fighting face to face is not my forte"

"Same here" said Kankurō.

"Very well. Naruto, Shitō and I will engage them up close while you three fight them from here and guard the door" said Shin

Jiraiya, Sandaime, Kakashi and Itachi walked in what appeared to be a deserted corridor.

"He's expecting us" said Jiraiya, analysing the empty rooms that they have passed.

They arrived at a large hall where they saw Orochimaru sat on a chair and next to him stood Yakushi Kabuto.

"Jiraiya, Sarutobi-sensei. What an honour" said Orochimaru while feigning sincerity.

"Cut the crap, Orochimaru" said Jiraiya sharply.

"Tense, are we?" Orochimaru grinned maliciously "By the way, I hope your team outside will be alright against my one hundred of very promising experiment subjects"

"They will be" replied Sandaime with confidence "Unlike you" he stared at Orochimaru who returned it with hateful glare.

Noriko vs. Kidōmaru

Noriko jumped to the direction of her opponent when she saw her opponent spit out web-like projectiles from his mouth towards Konoha's group. Noriko threw her shuriken to dispel the webs, but she noticed that instead of being cut, the web enveloped the shuriken and fell down.

Then her opponent showed up "What's this? A little girl playing ninja?" he mocked.

Noriko cocked her head and asked "You talking about me?".

Kidōmaru snarled "Who else is here but you!"

"Well…there's you as well" Noriko grinned.

"Why you-!" angry, Kidōmaru shouted "Kumo Sōka!" and shot out spider webs at Noriko's direction which she evaded.

While evading, Noriko picked her shuriken that was covered with the web before shouted "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!".

Noriko ordered her kage bunshin to attack while she analysed the web with her byakugan first, then with her sharingan.

Kidōmaru fought with Noriko's kage bunshin with ease. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Noriko was looking at his web with byakugan first, followed by a sharingan.

'A byakugan and a sharingan? You are an interesting opponent little girl. Too bad you are fighting me. Your sharingan cannot copy my hidden jutsu. Oh well, might as well enjoying myself before you die' Kidōmaru thought to himself and said "Kumosōkai"

Noriko was thinking 'It's sticky but it's base is water. Pity I didn't know any Doton. It is strong against Suiton. I know only Katon which is weak against Suiton. Wait…a high level Katon can overcome Suiton, but…argh! This is not a life or death situation…so no…never mind, let's try something else'

Her thought was interrupted when she saw a large web was approaching her. Without thinking, she did hand seals and shouted "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" while releasing as much chakra as she could, 'Hey! It burns!' she thought in a surprise.

Kidōmaru snarled but did not have much time to get angry as Noriko appeared in front of him with her byakugan activated and shouted "Hakke Kūshō!"

Instinctively, Kidōmaru produced his kekkei genkai from its pores and developed Nenkin no Yoroi to protect himself, just in time before he felt a rushed wind passing through him.

'That b****!' Kidōmaru cursed inwardly 'I heard of jūken but that seemed to be its range attack. If I didn't activated my Nenkin no Yoroi, I'd be as good as dead. Time to change strategy'

Noriko was surprised to see Kidōmaru still standing and unharmed. Then she saw him cracked and pieces of dried mud peeled off Kidōmaru.

'I see. So he can create armour too. I guess I need to shorten my distance so he have not enough time to develop that' thought Noriko. She saw then that Kidōmaru jumped off, and she can no longer sensed him.

'Hiding eh' Noriko grinned 'Cat and mouse. Rajah's favourite. You want to come now?', she asked Rajah telepathically. Rajah appeared.

From afar, Kidōmaru was shocked to see a gigantic tiger appeared. 'You've got to be kidding me! She could summon a tiger!'

The tiger and the girl then jumped off, causing Kidōmaru to immediately used his cursed seal to level 2 when he can no longer sensed them. He summoned his spider, Kyodaigumo who then produced an egg sac full of baby spider. Kidōmaru scattered the baby spider around him. After that, he produced Kumo Nenkin from his mouth, held it in his six arms and be on guard.

'I'd love to use Kumo Senkyū: Suzaku, but the b**** can use kage bunshin. Kumo Nenkin is better for multiple opponents. The spiders can tell me which direction she'll come unless she attacks with her kage bunshin. With her fire jutsu, jūken and summoning animal, I am greatly at disadvantage. The only way is to trap her with Kyodaigumo and kill her, or distract her then escape' Kidōmaru was thinking.

Meanwhile, Noriko and Rajah were observing Kidōmaru and discussed telepathically.

"He's afraid" said Rajah "His heart rate is elevated and the fact that he arms himself, standing in that pose, with his spiders all out suggest that he's very afraid"

"A cornered mouse is a dangerous one" Noriko said, reminding herself not to look down her opponent.

"Correct" said Rajah

Kidōmaru was waiting for an attack when he heard a roar which sent chills down his spine. The roar was answered by another roar when eight Noriko appeared from all directions and yelled "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" which burnt his spiders.

Then Noriko appeared, riding Rajah with byakugan activated and cried "Zanzō Bunshin!"

Kidōmaru eyes gone wide when he saw his opponent multiplied herself and her summoning tiger. He saw one crouching and jumping at him which he threw one Kumo Nenkin, and another attack from left which he threw another Kumo Nenkin. Then two attacks coming from front and right and Kidōmaru threw two of his Kumo Nenkin, only to hear "Hakke Kūshō!" from his back.

Before he could turn, Kidōmaru felt a huge wave passing through him and sapped him all of his chakra. Never before in his life had he felt so weak. After that, he felt something sharp on his throat and then he felt no more.

End Chapter 56

A/N: Shitō vs. Jirōbō is basically similar to Chōji vs. Jirōbō. However, since Shitō was a Tokubetsu Jōnin, taking down Jirōbō was easier for him than Chōji.

A/N: Yes. Kankurō vs. Sakon and Ukon.

Doton – Earth Release

Hakke Kūshō – Eight Trigrams Air Palm

Hyōrōgan – Soldier Pills

Jūken – Gentle Fist

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone

Katon – Fire Release

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Fire style: Grand Fireball Technique

Kumo Nenkin – Sticky Spider Thread

Kumo Senkyū: Suzaku – Spider War Bow: Terrible Split

Kumo Sōka – Spider Web Flower

Kumosōkai – Spider Web Unrolling

Nenkin no Yoroi – Sticky Spider Thread Armour

Suiton – Water Release

Zanzō Bunshin – Afterimage Clone